Laura's Choice
by Elisabeth1
Summary: Go back to the night Laura Bristow left to fake her death. What if she had taken Sydney with her?
1. The Change

Title: Laura's Choice  
  
Author: Elisabeth  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Spoilers: The Solution  
  
Disclaimer: I am a poor student, I have nothing to give you.  
  
Feedback: Please!  
  
Summary: Go back to the night Laura Bristow left to fake her death. What if she had taken Sydney with her?  
  
Note: Thank you Moonie for helping me.  
  
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Her mother was a spy, an actual James Bond, gun toting, high kicking spy. One minute Lora Sidney Jonco was in her cozy apartment in New York proposing a vacation to her mother, Lana Jonco. And the next she was dodging bullets, and leaving her apartment just before it blew up. This isn't supposed to happen.  
  
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A little over two decades ago little Sydney Bristow colored a picture of her family. It was three stick figures, one drawn tall and with black and brown lines, one medium height with light blue and yellow, and the littlest with green and pink. When she finished she jumped to her feet and ran to the living room where her mother Laura was grading papers. Sydney smiled and chanted, "Mommy, Mommy look what I did". Her mother had taken her in her arms and kissed her and praised her work. After that Laura carried Sydney in to bed for a nap, "I'll be home soon" she whispered. Laura shed a tear and starred at her daughter whose tiny hands were holding her family drawing. Instead of leaving alone, she wrapped her little girl in her arms and carried her to the car. Sydney faintly heard her mother whisper while she slept. "We'll need a new plan."  
  
When Sydney woke up she was on snuggled up next to her mother. She felt drowsy like she had taken cough medicine. She looked around at her surroundings. It was a small area; she looked out the window and saw the sun rising over a large body of water. She was in a plane. She asked her mom why they were on a plane, and got the ominous answer that she would find out when the plane landed. Sydney starred out the window thinking that they were on an adventure. The pilot who announced they were landing in New York City interrupted her thoughts. Once they got their bags, bags which Sydney had never seen, her mother sat down with her on a bench outside of the airport. Laura spoke of love and that people always love you even when they're not there, and ended with something that froze Sydney. Her father was dead. After that she felt numb and everything her mother said after that sounded like it was far away and everywhere they went was a blur. She felt disconnected from her new life for about a year.  
  
When she was 7 years old she realized that mail was coming to the house addressed to Lana Jonco. And she ran to her mother. "Mommy we got someone else's mail." That was when her mother told her that she was Lana Jonco. A confused Sydney didn't understand. Her mother told her that she had a new name too. Sydney hadn't noticed because the pre-school teachers called her by her name. So Lana explained that they did this to get a fresh start, that her husbands death was too painful. And new names were part of a fresh start. Lana took a paper out of her desk drawer and showed it to Sydney. "This is your new birth certificate." The paper in front of Sydney said 'Lora Sidney Jonco'. For years she never questioned why her mother would change their lives around just to get a fresh start. She finally asked her when she was 14 years old. Lana looked sad when Sidney asked, but never the less she looked her daughter in the eye and told her what had happened. "Your father's death wasn't an accident. He was killed." Lana stammered, "and the FBI put us in the witness protection program so we would be safe. That's why…" A shocked Sidney took her now crying mother in her arms and swore she would never pry again.  
  
Even though her mother traveled for work at least once a week, Sidney and Lana were very close. Lana was very dedicated to her work at the Gallows Publishing House. And Sidney occupied her free time by taking Karate classes, a must while living in the city, her mother had said. Also she enrolled in NYU after graduating with honors from high school, and began studying to be a professor of literature like her mother was before the change. She had some close friends, and had dated a bit. A month before her life changed again her life was normal. She was having coffee at the Starbucks near the university with her best friends Sam Ferris and Carrie Bloom. Sam was a social worker and Carrie a photo editor for Money Matters a financial magazine. She knew Carrie from high school and met Sam from a blind date her neighbor set her up on. Every since then they always could count on one another for help. Who's the better bond was the discussion of the day. Sam argued it was Connery. The girls teamed up saying it was Brosnan because he had a cute butt. They laughed and sipped their warm coffees. She showed them brochures of places she might want to take her mother for holiday. Her mother had a lot of vacation days saved up and they didn't see each other all the time anymore. She had considered LA since it had been about 20 years since they left, she had always wanted to visit her father's grave. And someone would have found them already if they were in danger. So she booked them a flight for Los Angeles and made all of the arrangements.  
  
The day her life would change was upon her. Not knowing what would happen she went through it normally. Sidney put the tickets and brochures for LA on her kitchen table. She kept re-arranging them so maybe they would look more appealing. All she wanted right now was to spend time with her mother. She went to her room and took a last look in the mirror. She recently cut her hair just below her shoulders and hoped her mother would approve. She wore a tan boat neck long sleeve shirt and a pair of faded jeans. The doorbell rang and she thought it would have to do. They hugged and exchanged pleasantries, and then Sidney brought Lana to see her brochures. "No! No way in the world! Lora Sidney Jonco how could you even think about doing this," her mother cried as she glared at Sidney. Sidney argued that it had been years that she wanted to see her father's grave. Her mother screamed at her, "Have I not been a good parent to you?" Sidney couldn't believe her mother would say that, and show so much anger. Sidney told her mother, "I love you mom, I just want to find my roots and-" She was interrupted by her mother pushing her to the ground. Bullets poured through her apartment windows and walls. Red laser dots decorated her apartment. She tried to ask her mother what was going on, but she had no time. She followed her mother down the garbage shoot in the hall. They landed in a cart of garbage. She asked what the hell was going on, and her mom told her act now questions later. She ran with her mom and they headed for the garage. Two men attacked her mother. She was about to yell for the cops and pull them off of her mom, when her mother started fighting back. A minute later both men were unconscious on the floor. Her mother got into the closest car. "Mom?" Sidney questioned. "Get in," Lana shouted. She got in and watched as her mother hot-wired the car. They speed off out of the garage; Sidney looked back and saw her apartment in flames.  
  
They switched cars twice and now were in Central Park. Sidney sat by the large statue of Alice in Wonderland. "What the hell was that about mom?" Sidney cried. Her mom looked nervous, and sighed. "There is no other way to tell you this, I'm a former intelligence agent for the KGB."  
  
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Across the country in an underground office, under the Credit Dauphine building, a worn man starred at a picture of his wife and daughter. He picked up a framed and tattered children's drawing next to it. He rubbed his thumb over the glass and whispered "Sydney". 


	2. The Revelation

Note: Thank you Moonie for helping me yet again. And Samantha mucho thanks for spotting my typos. Also there is one quote that's directly from Alias in here, so credit to the show of course for writing that bit.  
  
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All these years hadn't helped Jack Bristow get over the loss of his wife and daughter. He knew his wife was a traitor that was working for the KGB. He knew that he was part of her plan, a pawn in her game. But Sydney- why did she take her with her? When he had first heard what had happened he was hysterical and in denial. They told him Laura and Sydney died in a car accident while being chased by a FBI counter-intelligence officer, Agent Bentley Calder. The roads were slippery and both cars went into the river. Also he found out who she really was and he learned her real name was Irina Derevko. When he heard the second time he believed that she had escaped with Sydney, but when he caught a sight of a crayon drawing of Sydney's floating at the scene, he broke down. He sobbed and fell on the ground; he held the flimsy drawing in his arms. He didn't fight when the FBI dragged him into custody. He was in too much of a numb shock to fight it. He spent six months in solitary confinement in a federal prison because he was suspected of being in cohorts with Laura. There everyday was just going through the motions and reliving the night of the 'accident.' The FBI almost tried him for treason, and even though he was eventually cleared of the charges the damage was done and he began a downward spiral. For years he drank his sorrows away, only to have them come back and haunt him when he became sober. He felt he had no purpose or reason to not drink until his friend and fellow agent, Arvin Sloane went freelance with a pool of other agents from agencies from around the world. They created the Alliance of 12 and became enemies of the United States. They were mercenaries. Being close to Sloane it was easy for him to become a double agent for the Central Intelligence Agency in the LA branch of the Alliance. He would work with Sloane in SD-6, Section Desparu. He was an upper level agent and knew things others didn't, lower level agents who joined thought it was a black ops division of the CIA.  
  
Now on a bizarre new case he was facing his past again. He and two CIA agents, Eric Weiss and Michael Vaughn had retrieved many artifacts of Milo Rambaldi; Pope Alexander VI's chief architect who was an artist, an inventor, and his designs were so technologically advanced that at the time they thought he was a heretic and he was executed. Now, 500 years later, many believe he was a prophet. They've retrieved most of his works. Most recently it was his manuscript. And on page 47 of his manuscript a prophecy hit too close to home. "This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks, signs that she will be the one to bring forth my works. Bind them with fury. A burning anger, unless prevented. At vulgar cost, this woman will render the greatest power unto utter desolation." And the woman depicted bared an uncanny resemblance to his dead wife. So they started investigating that angle.  
  
He was on leave from SD-6 and Michael Vaughn and himself were searching for Irina Derevko, alias Laura Bristow. It was personal for both of them, Laura had killed Vaughn's father William and destroyed Jack's heart. For the 3 years they had worked together they bonded, although neither one would admit it. Jack thought of him as a protégé, and Vaughn saw him as a hero, albeit bitter. So far they had a couple of theories of how she faked her death. She either crashed into the river and stayed under water by getting air from the tires and let Sydney die in the crash or she let someone else posing as her crash, and took Sydney somewhere with her. Jack hoped for the later, he didn't understand why she would take Sydney unless she wanted her alive. But then again he didn't understand her at all.  
  
So here he was sitting in his SD-6 office Finishing off some last minute work for Arvin. As he drove to the safe house that he and Vaughn we're investigating Laura in, he passed by the old neighborhood he used to live in. He hadn't meant to but he wanted to make sure he wasn't followed and made a lot of turns. It was where he used to be part of a family. The park where Sydney played, the stores Laura shopped, and the home where she betrayed him. He parked in front of his old home, and saw the faded yellow paint and the unkempt lawn. He starred coldly at the house. He couldn't take the reminiscing anymore so he drove off fast to the safe house. When he got there he looked at all the papers on the conference table in front of him. There were the files from the investigation on Laura, which he found out only recently about. From none other then Arvin Sloane when he questioned him earlier about the possibility that she was alive. It turned out that while Sloane was still part of the CIA he was on an internal commission which was formed to assess the damage she'd done to U.S. intelligence. Back then they had actually proven that she was alive, but didn't want to tell him in the state he was in. She had left no trail, and could be anywhere in the world. She could still be in the United States. Where ever she was she wasn't under any alias they knew. Just then Vaughn burst into his office, "Jack we found something new." He set up his computer, "We found this in the Intel you found when you seized the records from Cape Town. We found a video file, with some amazing stuff. Khasinau was on it with Bentley Calder, the alleged FBI agent who- well you know. His real name was Igor Sergei Velanko. He was alive after the accident. But Velanko isn't a viable connection anymore, we found out that the Snowman killed Velanko last week. It was to put heat on Khasinau. Okay this is where it's related to Irina Derevko." On the computer in front of him, Jack saw his wife alive, the date at the bottom of the screen was three months after the accident. She was most definitely alive. The interview made him cringe. She sounded so assured and determined and… proud.  
  
Laura: My Russian or American name?  
  
Khasinau: Uh, why not both?  
  
Laura: Irina Derevko and Laura Bristow.  
  
Khasinau: When were you recruited for special duties?  
  
Laura: In 1970, I was recruited to the KGB by you, Alexander Khasinau.  
  
"Op Tech has been through it a billion times, from what they can find out so far, it was shot in the states, not overseas." Vaughn seemed shaken from watching, but he continued.  
  
Khasinau: Describe the objective of your operation.  
  
Laura: Phase one: I was to pose as an American, a student of literature. Phase two: I was to make the acquaintance of a particular officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, to insinuate myself in his life, to become his confidant, earn his trust.  
  
Khasinau: Please state the officer by name.  
  
Laura: Officer Jonathan Donahue Bristow.  
  
Khasinau: Phase three?  
  
Laura: Phase three: I was to begin to acquire through various means, details of the CIA operation to which Bristow was assigned - Project Christmas.  
  
"This didn't help with Khasinau and bringing him down, but now we know there is a connection. It's something substantial. We can turn it off here." He reached to turn it off, but Jack stopped him. He had to see the whole thing no matter what.  
  
Khasinau: You have no reason to believe that anyone else became suspicious of you?  
  
Laura: Nyet. Of course I would've told you.  
  
Khasinau: Uh, how did you acquire your Intel?  
  
Laura: Every night for ten years I went through his briefcase. I eavesdropped on all of his private conversations. I planted listening devices on his clothing. He was blinded by his emotions. He knew nothing. I can tell you one thing: Jack Bristow was a fool.  
  
Jack looked down. He was a fool, a fool in love. But now…all that mattered was finding her and bringing her down. And finding his daughter, his little girl. Vaughn looked him in the eye, "We'll find them Jack, we'll find them."  
  
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Lora Sidney Jonco was in shock. She sat on the grass in Central Park leaning against the statue of Alice. She was trying to digest what she had heard. She had been lied to all her life by the one person she could always count on, her mother. How many other things were lies? 


	3. The Shock

Spoilers: the Enemy Walks In Note: Thanks to Lena Olin, I mean wow watching the first ep was an encouragement,  
  
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She was breathing hard, and a gust of warm wind hit her face. She didn't notice the sky darken, or the clouds move in, or the hour that had just passed by. Then the rain started, it poured large and hard droplets. The humidity and heat warmed the air. She was soaked through. Her mother was shaking her to move. She was telling to go with her. Her voice was faded because of the pounding rain. Sidney looked straight into the downpour "Was everything a lie?" she said hoarsely. Then starred at her mother, "Was it?" Her mother knelt on the ground and pulled her into a hug, "Not everything," Lana said then paused and looked lovingly at her daughter. She pushed a lock of hair that was clinging to Sidney's cheek behind her ear. Her apartment was gone, all her things destroyed, and Carrie and Sam probably thought she was dead. "We've got to go, we've stayed here too long, you have to trust me!" Sidney let her mother pull her off the ground and rush her through the park, even though she wasn't sure that she could trust the woman she had trusted all her life.  
  
At the entrance of the park was a black unmarked car. As the window unrolled we saw the face of a skinny older man. He called for them to get in. "It's okay," her mother urged. Sidney got into the back of the car, and her mother got into the front with the man. It smelled of thick cologne and cigarette smoke. Her mother started to speak a language she didn't recognize, it sounded like Indian.but she wasn't sure. She thought her mother only spoke Russian, French and English, just like she did. But she was wrong. Was there even a Gallows Publishing House? What was going on? "Would you just speak English already! Or do you have more secrets to keep?" Sidney demanded.  
  
"Sid I wanted to get us out of danger out of the country, but they've added heavy securities," her mother sighed.  
  
The skinny man spoke, "We will head to the fire, were they will least suspect us."  
  
"The what? I thought we were going to speak English." Sidney questioned as she leaned forward.  
  
"You're not serious Alex, not there," Lana looked shocked.  
  
"The highest security is there right now, why not head where they least expect us to. Right under their noses," he countered.  
  
Lana looked at Sidney and held her hand tightly, "The City of Angels it is."  
  
Sidney kept holding her mother's hand and starred out the window and watched the rain pour. It was raining so hard the world looked like a water painting. She felt like an over curious child all over again. Who was shooting at them? Who was her mother working for now? If the witness protection program story was a cover was her father alive? She was tired and let herself drift to sleep and allowed herself some peace for the moment  
  
When she woke up the sun was shinning and she saw a sign for Burlington International Airport. She was in Vermont. She looked around and saw her mother, or some variation of her mother. Lana was straightening a curly long vibrant red wig outside of the car. She was wearing large sweatshirt and blue jeans with holes in them. Things Lana Jonco would never wear.  
  
"Change into these," her mom said as she handed her a large paper bag.  
  
Sid looked in the bag and frowned. She quickly slipped in the outfit and wig. And tried her best to put the make up on. When she stepped out of the car she glanced at the reflection in the car. She wore a curly short light blonde wig. She was wearing a floral shirt with ruffles and tight old looking light blue jeans with cowboy boots.  
  
"Since when do we dress like Lolly and Cookie from the county fair?" Sid asked.  
  
"Since we're going to LA as Suzy Jensen and Lulu Parks." her mother answered and passed her a passport.  
  
"Isn't that fraud?" she looked her mother in the eyes.  
  
"Yes, but it's the way we'll survive. The legal way doesn't always do that," her mother approached her and straightened her wig, "Now how well do you remember how to do a Texas accent?"  
  
When they got to the plane, her mother with her new accent complained that she had to get a good seat. She decided to stay silent throughout the flight. She had to think. Was her mother telling her the complete truth? If she was a former agent why there were people trying to kill here? She waited until they successfully got through customs, and into the airport bathroom.  
  
Her mother passed her another shopping bag, this time with a black suit, heals, in it. "Change into these."  
  
She listened to her mother, and they both got into separate stalls and changed. She would have said no, but her wig was itching. When they got out they dumped the cowboy outfits in the trash. Her mother who was dressed in similar attire pulled her to go.  
  
"Enough!" Sidney cried and backed away from her mother.  
  
"This isn't the place-" her mother began.  
  
"It's never the place. I want the whole truth now or I'm leaving and going directly to dad's grave." She threatened. She didn't want to hurt her mother but enough was enough.  
  
Her mother starred off into space for a moment, she never thought this moment would ever come, "There is no grave."  
  
"You never buried him?" Sidney held her hand to her mouth in disgust.  
  
"He was never dead. Your father is alive." She saw Sidney was going to speak. Shock had already washed over her face, and betrayal was in her eyes, "Please let me finish. I love you Sidney. I want you to know that. When we were with your father, I was a KGB agent. And your father was a CIA agent, I was sent undercover to use him to find out government secrets. I never expected to fall in love with him and have a child. But I did. You weren't part of the cover, you were made out of love. That wasn't false. But there came a time when I had to report back to the KGB, and my assignment was over. I had completed my mission." She had to tell her the complete truth, "I've done things, horrible things. I've killed for my agency. But one awful thing I wasn't willing to do was leave you behind. If I had stayed with your father, the KGB would have sent out assassins to kill us. I couldn't risk your lives. Once the KGB, now K-directorate, found out I had you with me they came after us. So for years now I've been head of a rogue agency, with Alex as the cover headman, I've been able to keep us a secret from them. But now it seems they have found us out." She reached out her hand to brush some hair out of Sidney's face.  
  
"Who are you?" Sidney questioned horrified. Her own mother a murderer, her father alive.  
  
"My name is Irina Derevko, alias Lana Jonco, and alias Laura Bristow." She looked her daughter straight in the eyes.  
  
"I need to think," Sidney ran out of the bathroom, and Irina ran out after her. All she saw was a large crowd of people, and could not spot her daughter.  
  
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She took a bus across town, and searched for the place on the tourist book she picked up at the airport. She walked in and headed straight to the reception's desk, "I need to see who's in charge," she had to find her father, if he was really alive. The receptionist asked her who was asking, so she answered, "Sydney Bristow." 


End file.
